Vadivazhagiya Nambi Perumal Temple, Anbil
Thiru Anbil
Photo: Mohan Krishnan (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Sthala Purāṇam
Thiru Anbil, also called Premapuri and counted among the Chola Nadu Divya Desams, takes its name from the Tamil word anbu (love), for tradition holds that Sriman Narayana created all good things in the world out of divine love, and his beauty of form (vadivu) and auspicious qualities (kalyana gunas) are manifest here. The presiding deity is therefore worshipped as Vadivazhagiya Nambi (Sundararaja, the beautiful one), with his consort as Azhagiyavalli or Sundaravalli Nachiyar. The chief sthala puranam recounts that the sage Suthaba (Sutapa) was performing penance submerged in the temple tank when he failed to notice the irascible sage Durvasa; cursed to be born a frog (mandooka), he continued his austerities in the waters until Vishnu appeared before him as the resplendent Sundararajan and liberated him from the curse incurred through past-birth sins. From this episode the sacred tank is named Manduka (Mandooga) Pushkarani. A second legend tells how Brahma, grown proud of his beauty for having fashioned mankind, was reminded by the Lord, who appeared as a handsome youth, that physical form is transient and true beauty lies in goodness of heart. The temple's vimana is the Tharaga Vimanam, and the shrine is glorified by Tirumazhisai Alvar, who praises the Lord in his reclining grace.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Vadivazhagiya Nambi (Sundararaja) with Azhagiyavalli (Sundaravalli) of Thiru Anbil is glorified by:
Thiru Anbil, the shrine of Vadivazhagiya Nambi (Sundararaja Perumal) near Tiruchirappalli, is the only temple in this group sung by Thirumalisai Alvar (and by him alone among the Alvars). Wikipedia states he honoured it 'in two hymns'; these belong to his works in the first thousand of the Divya Prabandham (Thiruchanda Viruttham and Nanmugan Thiruvandhadhi). The Alvar depicts the Lord reclining in serene majesty and invites the devotee to surrender, weaving divine grace and cosmic order together.
Verses & references (1)
- Thirumalisai Alvar portrays Anbil as a sacred space where Vishnu (Sundararaja / Vadivazhagiya Nambi) resides in a serene and majestic form, celebrating the abode and calling devotees to loving surrender — blending personal self-surrender with the universal themes of divine mercy and cosmic order. Wikipedia records that he revered this temple in two hymns of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. — Thirumalisai Alvar, Thiruchanda Viruttham / Nanmugan Thiruvandhadhi · source ↗
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